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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS! 

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DOTTED STATES OP AMERICA. 




LECTURE 



BY 



/ 



JOHN BEOOKS, 



OF CAMERON COUNTY, PA., 



DELIVERED IK THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 29, 1879, 



ON THE SUBJECT OP 



-H- -E L L . 



52 J 

HARRISBURG: 

LANE S. HART, PRINTER 

1882. 












?$> 



Entered, according to the act of Congress, in the office of the Librarian of 
Congress, in the year 1882, by 

JOHN BROOKS. 



The Library 
of Congress 

WASHINGTON 



PBEFACE. 



This Lecture was prepared and delivered, and is now published 
for the purpose, and with the view of eliciting truth, and to awaken 
thought in the minds of those who, " by reason of use, have their 
senses exercised to discern both good and evil." (Heb. v, 14.) And 
inasmuch as the demand of the age seems to incline toward fables 
and novels, and the time foreseen by the apostle having come, when 
men " Will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts 
shall heap to themselves teachers, have itching ears, (or that tickle 
the ear,) * * and shall turn away their ears from the truth, and 
shall be turned unto fables." The lecturer, therefore, seeks to at- 
tract the attention by presenting his subject in a quaint, though 
proper dress, hoping thereby to direct the mind to a consideration 
of the truth, and to reclaim, if possible, some of the many perverts 
who have been led to renounce the truth ! 

JOHN BROOKS. 

Sinnemahoning, March 13, 1882. 



LECTURE. 



My subject is Hell ! This has been, and is now, a theme of much 
discussion ; and upon this mooted problem, without preliminary 
remarks, I propose to present to my audience positive proofs, de- 
monstrating the existence of this veritable classical institution. 
And here permit me to call your attention to the fact that, in the 
historjr of the genesis of the universe, there is no mention of a 
hell ! The oldest and most authentic record declares that, " In the 
beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Hence we con- 
clude that Hell was not a part of the original plan of the universe, 
but was, arranged subsequent to the creation of the heavens and 
the earth ! This view is supported by the declaration of the Saviour, 
(Matt, xxv, 41,) who says it was " prepared for the Devil and his 
angels." 

Proceeding to the solution of this controverted question, I shall 
attempt to show that Hell is a place, a positive institution, and is 
no myth, or " old wives' fables," as some modern savants claim ! 
And I propose to show the existence, the location, the necessity, 
and the continuity of this real absolute establishment. 

The term Hell is Anglo-Saxon, and conveys the idea that the 
word Sheol, in the Hebrew, and the words Hades, Gehenna, and 
Tartarus, do in the Greek, signifying, according to the ablest lexi- 
cographers, First, " the place or region of the dead ; or of souls 
after death, and also the grave." Example, from the " Common 
Prayer," " He descended into Hell." Second, the place, or state of 
punishment, or abode of the wicked after death ; the abode of evil 
spirits." Example, from Shakespeare : " I'll speak to it, though 
Hell itself should gape, and bid me hold my peace !" 

Flavins Josephus, the Jewish historian, who wrote about the 
middle of the first century of the Christian era, is very explicit in 
his description of Hades. In his discourse to the Greeks, he says, 
" Hades is a place, * * of custody for souls, in which angels 
are appointed as guardians to them, and who distribute temporary 
punishments, agreeably to every one's behavior and manners." 



6 Lecture on Hell. 

In Grecian mythology, Hades is a name originally given to the 
king of the lower world — a place of darkness; its gates were kept 
closed, that no shade might escape to the world of light ; and they 
were guarded by the terrible many-headed dog, Cerberus, the re- 
nowned watch-dog of Hell. 

Hela was the term for hell among the Scandinavians, and was a 
place of confinement and custody. The ancient heathen world be- 
lieved there were two grand divisions in hell — the one called Ely- 
sium, on the right hand, pleasant and delightful, appointed for the 
souls of the good ; the other, called Tartarus, on the left — a region 
of misery and of torment, appointed for the wicked. This depart- 
ment is only hell in the restricted sense of the word. Thus do the 
pagan world agree with the Jewish, arid with the Christian, that 
there is an existing Hell. Moreover, the existence of Hell has never 
been doubted, but it is supported by the general belief and consent 
of mankind, and accords with the practice of all men in their social 
and governmental relation, who are ever ready to consign evtt-doers 
to a place of custody and punishment. This universal notion is 
instinctive in human nature — an intuition that is spontaneous, and 
does not depend upon experience or reason for its inception. And 
this instinctive belief, judgment, or cognition, affords presumptive 
proof of the existence of Hell ! If it was proposed to expunge the 
idea, obliterate the thought, and erase from the pages of history, 
and from the memories of men, all vestiges of the subject we dis- 
cuss, it would be found to be impracticable, because impossible ; 
and impossible, because impracticable ; and the dilemma so great 
that hell itself would be sought as a refuge from the dreaded horn 
of annihilation! 

The race of Gypsies, who are so low in the scale of humanity, 
and so barren in language, that it is said they have no words to ex- 
press the idea of God, the soul, or immortality, they, too, believe 
in Hell ! 

Every little girl with her doll or kitten, expresses the thought in 
manifesting her displeasure at times, and she extemporizes some 
dark corner for durance and restraint, and the boys on our streets 
intone in expressive diction, and with surprising euphony, the name 
of the place toward which they tread, and yet, say you, there is no 
hell ? Whence cometh the universal idea and notion of a hell, if 
it had no existence ? 

It is the common belief that men have souls ; yet if the existence 



Lecture on Hell. T 

of the thinking conscious principle or entity within us were denied, 
it could not be proven to exist, by a mathematical demonstration ; 
but by reasoning, a posteriori, from effect to cause, the deduction 
that men have souls would be clear and conclusive ; for a moral 
certainty is as absolute as a mathematical demonstration, which, 
indeed, can only be conceived or apprehended by the powers of the 
mind. Even the few eccentric and ill-balanced minds, who pretend 
to ignore the existence of Hell, are more than ordinarily disposed 
to anathematize those who differ with them, and to consign them to 
limbo, or banish them to Hell ! 

"Skeptic, whoe'er thou art, tell if thou knowest, 
Why every nation, every clime, though all 
In laws, in rights, in manners disagree, 
With one consent expect another world, 
Where wickedness shall weep ! " 

Ask memorj^, the lightning of the mind, that binds us to the past, 
as her bells peal their changeless chimes, and "calls up to view the 
spectres whom no exorcism can bind!" Ask Echo, the mountain 
nymph ; evoke her voice on either side the grave ! Ask if there is 
a Hell ; and hear her prompt, profound reply : " There is a Hell /" 

We shall now notice the location of the Tartarean gulf of which 
we speak. 

The ancient philosophers were of the opinion that the infernal 
regions were an equal distance from all parts of the surface of the 
earth, and that there were certain passages that led thither ; one 
from Lethe, near the Syrtis, and it was believed that at Hermione 
there was a short way to Hell : and at that place the people did not 
put the fare into the mouths of the dead, to pay their passage to 
the realm of shades. The Jews placed Hell in the center of the 
earth, and believed there were three passages leading to it. One 
from the wilderness, where the " earth opened her mouth, and Dathan 
and Abiram went down into the pit, (Sheol.) One from the Medi- 
terranean sea, where Jonah was engulfed, and one from near Jerusa- 
lem. 

The Mohammedans believe that Hell has seven gates, the first for 
the Mussleman, the second for Christians, the third for the Jews, the 
fourth for Sabeans, the fifth for the Magians, the sixth for the Pa- 
gans, and the seventh, for the hypocrites of all religions. 

Josephus says, " Hades is a place, in this world, not regularly fin- 
ished. A subterranean region, where the light of this world doth not 



8 Lecture on Hell. 

shine. In this region there is a certain place set apart as a lake of 
unquenchable fire ; wherein, we suppose no one has hitherto been cast ; 
and that there is one descent into Hades, where, at the gate stands 
an Arch- Angel with a host ; and the just that pass that gate, are 
conducted by the angels appointed over them, to the right hand, into 
a region of light, called Abraham's bosom. But the unjust are 
dragged to the left hand, and into the neighborhood of Hell itself, 
(or the lake of fire,) and they continually hear the noise of it, and 
do not stand clear of the hot vapor itself." 

This notion of Hell being located in the interior of the earth is 
a reasonable one, and accords with the notions of mankind, who 
provide for the custody, the trial, and the punishment of criminals, 
in the municipality where the laws were infracted, and the crimes 
committed. This view is supported by the Scriptures. The Hebrew 
word Sheol, which is translated pit, grave, or hell, signifies the place 
of the dead ; unseen ! their bodies being in graves, and their spirits 
being in Hades, Sheol, in the unseen or under- world. 

The first mention of Hell in the Jewish Scriptures, is found in 
(Deut. xxxii, 32.) " For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall 
burn into the lowest Hell, (Sheol Tactith.) And shall consume the 
earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundations of the moun- 
tains." Thus is indicated by the term, " the lowest hell" the lake 
of fire of Josephus, and its location at the " foundations of the 
mountains," or in the center of the earth. 

In (Num. xvi, 32, 33,) we read that, " The earth opened her mouth 
and swallowed them up * * * the men that appertained unto 
Korah." * * * and they " went down alive into the pit, (Sheol,) 
and the earth closed upon them." In Isaiah (v, 14,) we read, " Woe 
unto them that rise up early in the morning that they may follow 
strong drink, that continue till night, till wine inflame them. * * * 
Therefore Hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without 
measure, and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and 
he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it." Also in chapter xxiv, 91 , 
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish 
the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the 
earth upon the earth, and they shall be gathered together as prison- 
ers are gathered, in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison." 
Hebrew (masgar,) an enclosure, a secure place. Again, in Ezekiel 
xxxi and xxxii,) we read, " Son of man, speak unto Pharaoh, king 
of Egypt, and to his multitude, * * * They are all delivered 



Lecture on Hell. 9 

unto death to the nether parts of the earth, in the midst of the child- 
ren of men, with them that go down to the pit. * * * I have 
made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I sent him 
down to Hell, (Sheol.) * * * There is Meshech Tubal, and all 
his multitude, his graves are round about him, * * * which are 
gone down to Hell." I would remark that in these two chapters the 
words " nether (or lower) parts of the earth," are repeated five times, 
the word " pit" four times, and the word " Hell" four times. All 
having reference to the place of the dead in the under-world. These 
texts are sufficient to prove that the sacred penmen, place or locate 
Hell in the lower or nether parts of the earth. There is no escape 
from this conclusion without violence in rendering these passages. 
Hesiod speaks of " Black Tartarus within earth's spacious womb." 
And Homer, of 

"That gulf which iron gates and brazen ground, 
Within the earth inexorably bound, 
As deep beneath the infernal center hurled, 
As from the center to the ethereal world." 

The Saviour in his Gospel teachings, did not controvert the Jew- 
ish and the Pagan notions of Hell being in the under-world, but 
rather confirms it, saying, "And thou Capernaum, which art exalted 
unto heaven, shall be thrust down to Hell." And in the narrative 
of the rich man who " fared sumptuously," and who " died and was 
buried, and in Hell, (Hades,) he lifted up his eyes, being in tor- 
ments," who saw "Abraham afar off, and Lazarus," (who had begged 
at his gate, and who had also died,) in "Abraham's bosom," — the 
Saviour's statement seems to agree with the notion of the Pagan 
philosophers, that there are departments in Hades, the abode of dis- 
embodied spirits. A Tartarus, or place of torment ; and an Ely- 
sium, a place of delight. And with the Jewish notion, of a depart- 
ment in Hades, on the right hand for the just, called Abraham's 
bosom, and one on the left for the unjust, a place of torment. And 
also with the Mohammedan notion that there is in Hades, a place 
for the hypocrites of all religions. If there were no place in the 
under-world, of custody for disembodied spirits, nor separate de- 
partments therein, the Saviour would have doubtless corrected the 
popular and the prevailing opinion ; but on the contrary he most 
assuredly confirms it, saying, " For as Jonas was three days and 
three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the son of man be three 
days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Thus referring, as 



10 Lecture on Hell. 

we believe, to his descent into Hades. And David, referring to the 
event of the resurrection of Christ, says, " Thou wilt not leave my 
soul in (Sheol) Hell." And Peter likewise says, " His soul was not 
left in Hell," (Hades.) 

Having thus briefly shown the existence and the location of the 
thermal institution, I shall proceed to speak of its origin, and its 
continuity : 

If there were no criminals or disorderly persons who should be 
restrained, there would be no necessity for prisons or asylums. But 
when the law, order, and peace of any realm is violated and dis- 
turbed by wicked and violent persons, then prisons and asylums at 
once become necessary, both for the protection of society, and for 
the cure and reform of the offenders, if this be possible. Hades, as 
a place of custody for departed spirits, and sepulchers as a place of 
deposit for deceased bodies, became necessary when death separated 
the spirit and the body. We cannot conceive of created intelligent 
beings endowed with volition, except as being under some rule of 
conduct or law, both as relates to their own being and welfare, and 
to the being who gave them existence, and to whom they are amen- 
able. And with the power to obey, there is the power to infract the 
same law. Following this there must be probation, and this implies 
adjudication and award, as an eternal trial would be absurd. The 
Saviour, speaking of the great assize, asserts that the king will ad- 
judicate all nations, and divide the classes, rewarding the righteous 
with life everlasting, in the kingdom prepared for them. And will 
consign the wicked to the place " prepared for the Devil and his 
angels." This place is what Josephus calls " Hell itself" and is the 
Tartarus of the Pagans. This final home for the wicked is distin- 
guished, from Hades, or the present under-world region for disem- 
bodied spirits, by St. John, in his panoramic vision, and described 
by him. 

" And the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; and death and 
Hell (Hades) delivered up the dead that were in them, and they 
were judged every man according to his works. And death and 
Hell (Hades) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second 
death, and whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was 
cast into the lake of fire.'''' The Greek word u puros" rendered 
" fire," is the same as was used by the Saviour, in (Matt, v, 22,) say- 
ing, " whosoever shall say (to his brother,) l thou fool ' shall be in 
danger of Hell fire" (Gehenna ton puros,) and also in his descrip- 



Lecture on Hell. 11 

tion of the final judgment, as the final sentence or charge, is uttered 
upon the wicked, saying, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into ever- 
lasting fire, (puros,) prepared for the Devil and his angels." Hence, 
the conclusion, that hell was not a part of the original creation, but 
when the angelic apostacy occurred, it became a necessity, and was 
prepared for the apostate angels. From this we may infer, that 
Satan's transgression was committed upon this planet, and that he 
revolted when Gfod made man in his own image, and gave them the 
dominion, and gave commandment, u Let all the angels of God wor- 
ship him," or as written in the Psalms, " worship him, all ye gods," 
or as in the Septuagint translation," worship him, all ye his angels." 
If therefore Satan's infraction of law, was by refusing to honor and 
minister unto man, who bore God's own image and stood (as Charles 
Wesley sings) " Nearest the great king of kings, and little less 
than God." Then the sin was perpetrated upon this planet, and 
hence the propriety of preparing a place of custody, and a proper 
home for the fallen spirits, in the same planet where the law was 
infracted, and the transgression committed. The Apostle Peter 
declares in the second chapter of his second epistle, that " God 
spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to Hell ? 
( Tartarus,) and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be re- 
served unto judgment." This is also referred to by Jude, in his 
general epistle, who speaks of " The angels which kept not their first 
estate (or principality,) but left their own habitation, he hath re- 
served in everlasting chains under darkness, unto the judgment of 
the great day." 

The Jews have an opinion that, " the angels (which were created 
the second day,) when they minister before God, become fire ; some- 
times they are made like women, (as in Zachariah, v, 9,) sometimes 
like men, (as in Gen. xviii, 2,) and sometimes they are spirits, (as in 
Psalms, civ, 4,) see Shemoth Rabbi, to whom Dr. Adam Clarke re- 
fers in his notes, (on Heb. i, 7.) From the tenor of these quota- 
tions may be inferred that the angels referred to, were an order, or 
class of beings, who were created prior to the creation of man, but 
during the six periods of the creation, and that they had a habita- 
tion, or principality in the earth, allotted to them, and were under 
law, in a state of probation, or trial ; that they kept not their own 
principality but left their own habitation," to invade the office, dig- 
nity, and prerogative of man, and to usurp the dominion and seize 
on Eden, or paradise, man's residence, and spoil all his felicity. This 



12 Lecture on Hell. 

view seems to accord with all the facts that the Scriptures reveal, 
of the action, and movements of Satan and his legions; who is so 
aptly represented as the " father of liars," and is the original liar. 
That these wicked, sinning angels, are reserved unto the judgment 
of the great day when both angels and men shall be adjudged and 
receive their final doom. The adjournment of the day of judgment 
to one day, at the end of the probationary period of all mankind, 
would seem to be demanded as a matter of equity ; for the good 
and the evil that men do, live after them, and is not interred with 
their bones ; neither is the malignancy of the fallen spirits in their 
diabolical work of seducing mankind till then ended, and therefore, 
a just judgment cannot yet be determined or rendered. 

The idea that this earth is the abode of angels, as well as of man, 
is not a novel one, nor is the idea confined to the illiterate ; for as 
late as the middle of the seventeenth century, archeological philos- 
ophers, had not decided whether fossils were the " sports of nature," 
or relics of once living beings, and some gravely maintained, " that 
the petrified bones of elephants, were those of the fallen angels." 

Milton represents Satan the arch-felon as in quest of Paradise, 
journeying on, pensive and slow ; till he reached the gate, which 
when he saw, he in contempt at one slight bound high over-leaped 
all bound of hill or highest wall, and sheer within, lights on his 
feet. * * * Thence up he flew, and on the tree of life * * 

* ' sat like a cormorant." 

He is represented (in Gen. ii, 1) as " the serpent," and the " more 
subtile " * " beast of the field," and is styled (in Rev. xx, 2) " the 
dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan ;" and is 
called by the Saviour, " the prince (or ruler) of this world ;" and 
by St. Paul, " the prince of the power of the air." 

I need proceed no further, to show that the history of this world 
shows the foot-prints of the usurper, who left his own principality, 
to ruin and degrade mankind, which he, in a great measure, has 
accomplished, as the history of man doth exemplify. I might ad- 
vert to the description of Hell, by the Florentine, Dante, who, in 
the thirteenth century, professed to have visions of Hell, Purgatory, 
and Paradise. He speaks of its ten gulfs, and of their many circles, 
and rounds, but 1 will not weary your patience with the disclosures 
his fancy may' have invented. Suffice it to say, that if his descrip- 
tion of Hell is fiction, that " Truth is stranger than fiction." 

Allow me to allude to the vivid description given by the sublime 



Lecture on Hell. 13 

and Christian bard, Milton, who speaks of the " Deep tract of Hell, 
and of the infernal serpent, (who) * * * raised impious war 
in Heaven. * * Him the Almighty power hurled headlong, 
naming from the etherial sky, with hideous ruin and combustion, 
down to bottomless perdition, there to dwell. * * * Rolling 
in the fiery gulf, confounded, though immortal. * * * Round 
he throws his baleful eyes, * * * he soon discerns Beelzebub, 

* " * * (and) with bold words, breaking the horrid silence thus 
began : u If thou be'est he ; but, oh, how fallen ! * * * From 
what height fallen ! * * * What though the field be lost, all is 
not lost ; the unconquerable will, and study for revenge, (remain.) 

* * * Tims Satan, talking to his nearest mate : " Is this the 
region, this the soil, the clime ?" said then the lost archangel. " This 
the seat that we must change for Heaven ? * * * Farewell, 
happy fields, where joy forever dwells! Hail, horrors / hail, in- 
fernal world/ and thou profoundest Hell!'''' 

So spake Satan ; and him Beelzebub thus answered : " Leader of 
those armies bright, which, but the Omnipotent, none could have 
foiled, if once (thy legions) hear that voice, their liveliest pledge of 
hope, in fears and dangers. * * In all assaults their surest sig- 
nal ; they will soon resume new courage and revive, though now 
they lie groveling and prostrate on yon lake of fire, * * as- 
tounded and amazed ! — no wonder, fallen such a pernicious height !" 

He scarce had ceased, when the superior fiend was moving toward 
the shore. His ponderous shield, * * hung on his shoulders 
like the moon. * * His spear, to equal which, the tallest pine 
hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast of some great admiral, 
were but a wand with which he walked, to support uneasy steps over 
the burning marl, * * * till on the beach of that inflamed sea 
he stood, and called his legions, (angel forms,) who lay entranced, 

* * * covering the flood under amazement of their hideous 
change! He called so loud that all the hollow deep of Hell re- 
sounded: "Princes! Potentates! Warriors! the flower of heaven, 
once yours, now lost, * * * Awake ! Arise I or be forever 
fallen!" 

They heard, * * and up they sprung * * on duty, * * 
their general's voice obeyed, * * * hovering on wing under 
the cope of Hell, 'twixt upper, nether, and surrounding fires, till at 
a signal * * * of their great Sultan, * * * down they 
light on the firm brimstone, and fill all the plain ! * * * * 



14 Lecture on Hell. 

Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood of human sacrifice, 
and parents' tears for children's cries, that passed through fire to 
his grim idol! — Ghemos or Peor, with lustful orgies, and wanton 
rites ! — Ashteroth or Astarte, the Queen of Heaven, with crescent 
horns, whom Sidonian virgins vowed and sang — Thammuz, the 
Syrian damsels' god, whose blood ran purple to the sea — next Dagon, 
whose brute-image head and hands fell off in his own temple, before 
the captive ark. After appeared a crew- — Osiris, Isis, Orus, the 
wandering gods, in brutish form. The Calf in Oreb, composed of 
borrowed gold, and doubled by the rebel king in Dan and Bethel. 
Then Egypt's bleating gods, and Belial, insolent in wine and sod- 
omry. These were the prime in order, and in might. They came 
flocking to their chief, who gently raised their fainting courage. 
And straightway commands there be upreared his mighty standard, 
and at his side a cherub tall forthwith unfurled the imperial ensign, 
streaming to the wind ; and at the warlike sound of trumpets loud, 
and clarions, the universal host sent up a shout that tore Hell's 
concave, frighting the reign of Chaos and Old Night ! Their dread 
commander, he above the rest in shape and gesture, proudly emi- 
nent, stood like a tower. His form had not yet lost all its original 
brightness, nor appeared less than archangel ruined , his face deep 
scars the thunder had entrenched, and care sat on his faded cheek. 
He now prepared to speak. Thrice he essayed, and thrice, in spite 
of scorn, tears, such as angels weep, burst forth. At last words, 
interwove with sighs, found out their way <. ' O, myriads of immor- 
tal spirits ! 0, powers matchless, but with the Almighty ; who can 
yet believe that all these puissant legions, whose exile hath emptied 
Heaven, shall fail to re-ascend self-raised, and re-possess their native 
seat ! War, then, war, open or understood, must be resolved !' 

He spake, and to confirm his words, out flew millions of flaming 
swords, drawn from the thighs of mighty cherubim. The sudden 
blaze far round illumined Hell ! " 

Such is the sublime bard's unique description of Hell, its imperial 
chief, and his compeers. Hell must exist, as a necessity, if sin ex- 
ists ; and without a Hell, there could be no Heaven ; or to state it 
otherwise, Hell must be limited and circumscribed, or all would be 
Hell ! A promiscuous assemblage of the incorrigible wicked, who 
have graduated and attained a permanence of character, would de- 
stroy heaven. There can be no affinity, nor harmony, and hence no 
enjoyment in the society of the hopelessly vicious with the virtu- 



Lecture on Hell. 15 

ous ; hence, there must be a sorting of the race, when probation 
shall end, and a final and just adjudication be made, when a right- 
eous award shall be rendered, both of merit and demerit. No other 
view will establish the infinite goodness, and wisdom, and justice, 
of the Deity ! Hence we conclude there must be a Hell, for the 
final abode of the wicked, and a Heaven, for the abode of the right- 
eous. The companionship of the lewd, profane, vulgar, vicious 
herd, with the chaste, virtuous, washed, God-like multitudes, would 
ruin Heaven, and convert it into a Hell ! It would not do to admit 
in the society of the regenerate, the unwashed drunkard, the vile 
libertine, and blatant infidel. Nor would it be wise to sing the sweet 
songs of Zion, or the hallelujahs of the redeemed, in Hell, to in- 
crease the torment and mock the miseries of the damned ! The 
most appropriate place for the abode of the finall}^ impenitent, would 
be in the society of the Devil and his angels, whom they have obeyed 
and served, and whose characters they have assimilated ; and for 
whose society they have acquired an admirable fitness. Hence, 
Hell is a merciful institution, and mercy, and justice, unite in as- 
signing to the incorrigible, unrepentant, persistent sinner, a perma- 
nent and appropriate home, adapted to their habitudes, and with 
such society as have like affinities and adaptations. 

Tallerand, said to the infidel Voltaire. " In order to popularize 
your new religion, it is important that you be crucified, and rise 
from the dead the third day.'' Voltaire however declined. 

I would suggest to those who deny the existence of Hell, and who 
wish to popularize their notions, that it becomes important to their 
success that they provide a more appropriate place for wicked men 
and evil spirits, lest the Devil and his imps, become homeless tramps, 
and disturb the peace of earth and heaven. That the final abode 
of wicked men and fallen spirits will be eternal, ever-during and 
age-lasting, we have abundant testimony. Redemption, though it 
reach the grave, and " Hades," and there be a general death and 
Hell delivery, at the judgment of the great day. " When the sea 
shall give up the dead that are in it, and death and Hell shall de- 
liver up the dead that are in them that they may be judged every 
one according to their works. Then shall death and Hell, and who- 
soever is not found written in the book of Life, be cast into the 
lake of fire." And from this there is no escape. No habeas cor- 
pus, no fire and brimstone purification, nor annihilation dodge or 
plea, will avail. For the smoke of their torment rises up for the 



16 Lecture on Hell. 

ages of the ages, (aionas ton aionon.) This description is no doubt 
metaphorical or metaleptical, yet the characters are real ; the local- 
ity definite and distinct, and the cycle everlasting, interminable, and 
continuous. 
" I have thus shown the existence, the location, the necessity, and 
the continuity, of this institution, together with the character of its 
inhabitants ; and have adduced proofs by the universal prevailing 
opinion, and the general assent of mankind, substantially affirmed 
by sages, philosophers, and scientists, and so plainly written, that 
the way-faring man, though a fool, may decipher the record. Yet, 
with all this array of proof, and with the overwhelming evidence in 
support of the affirmative of our proposition, agreeing, as it does, 
with the reason of the thing, and with the conceptions of the race, 
and the eternal fitness of things; blatant, ventose, supercilious, and 
superficial infidels of the present day, launch Tom Paine 's old dug- 
out, and are indefatigable in their efforts to stultify their race, hail- 
ing every craft possible, loudly beating their tom-tom. And in the 
frenzied diction, and in the antique vernacular of their prototype of 
Eden renown, with supreme audacity, impudence, and arrogance, 
they prate loudly their negatives, " Ye shall not surely die," " There 
is no Hell." And their acidity might be more properly expressed 
by dropping the c, and by spelling the predicate with ss. 

An incident is said to have occurred, in which the husband of a 
lady spiritualist, (who was an avowed skeptic on this question,) 
died. His wife at length, through a medium, obtained a dispatch 
from her husband, which read thus, " Dear wife : I now believe , 
please send me my thin clothes." This relation may be fiction, but 
truth is often stranger than fiction ; and infidels may soon, to their 
surprise, find themselves in custody in the thermal gulf, the existence 
of which they so long have ignored, and in remorse or torment, call- 
ing for their thin clothes, or for a drop of water to cool their parched 
tongues. This view of Hell being a merciful institution, is not in- 
compatible with the goodness of God ; but accords with all the at- 
tributes of His being, and with his personal attributes. " Shall not 
the judge of all the earth do right." 

Society at the present day presents in its aspects, enigmatical 
phenomena, that cannot be solved except upon the hypothesis, that 
mankind are in a degenerate condition, and are under probation or 
trial. 

We look around us and see design, skill, and adaptation, manifest 



Lecture on Hell. IT 

In the visible creation, and also obvious imperfections disturbing 
the order, so that all the indications of design are not fully met. 
This abnormal state cannot be the orignal one, as the Great Origin- 
ator must necessarily be infinite in all his attributes, too wise too 
make any mistakes, too good to produce misery, and too perfect to 
design the imperfections now existing ; hence, the derangement 
physically and morally that is presented before us must be attrib- 
uted to other and secondary causes, incidental to the obliquity of 
beings endowed with intelligence and volition, and to their infrac- 
tion of law. All derangement is sin, or the result of sin, and sin in 
the violation of law, and violation of law must be a voluntary. act, 
committed or done by one having the power to obey the law he has 
broken. The contrar}^ is inconceivable and absurd. All entities 
have qualities, positive or negative. All intelligent beings are un- 
der the law of their being, and therefore amenable for the exer- 
cise of their volition, and are positively or negatively justifed, as 
the case may be, and therefore are fitted and bound for paradise, 
or for Hell. There is no escape from this conclusion. 

Hell is a place, a locality, an institution, the masses of mankind 
throng the broad ways that lead thither, they strive to outvie each 
other and rush madly toward perdition. Multitudes are qualifj^- 
ing themselves for the society of demons, marching with rapid 
strides hell ward, and suicide in haste to reach their doom. 

There are other localities, aside from New York, where Hell might 
be located without the necessity of removing many of the inhabi- 
tants. Yet New Amsterdam and Gotham have almost monopolized 
the prerogative of its location. I will read a few sentences from the 
u Philadelphia Sunday Times," of the 16th of March, A. D., 1879, 
written by the special correspondent of that paper. 

"As I write, thousands of people are shouting themselves hoarse 
in Gilmore's Garden, and the week may be righteously classed as the 
most extraordinary instance of universal idiocy known to modern 
days. * * Such all-absorbing enthusiasm as have characterized 
this week astounds us. * * From dejure Tilden, with his droop- 
ing eyelid, to boot-blacks from Madison Square ; from the grand 
dame of Murray Hill, to the wretched outcast of Twenty-seventh 
street. * * * The tobacco nuisance in the Garden is monu- 
mental. Men now smoke who never smoked before, and all the gang 
that always smoked, now smoke the more. * * This continuous 
incense, * * it is the kind of smoke to be cut with a knife, at 
2 



18 Lecture on Hell. 

times it rolls and curls across the great distances like clouds of 
steam or vapor, and literally obscures the view of the spectators. 
At either end, placards were hung up, requesting visitors not to 
smoke, but it was useless. You might as well ask them not to drink. 
Drink ! great heavens how they have imbibed this week. The bar, 
not less than two hundred feet in length, before it all the time stood 
groups, throngs, multitudes of whiskey-drinkers and beer-guzzlers. 
Everybody drank, the great unwashed, as well as clean, rushed for 
the bar. The space devoted to rum was used for retiring-rooms for 
prayer and consultation in Moody's and Sankey's time. From this 
we might conclude that Gilmore's Garden in New York would be 
a fit site to locate Hell. 

In (Proverbs, v and vii chapters,) all are warned against the " lips 
of a strange woman that drop as an honey-comb, whose mouth is 
smoother than oil, but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a 
two-edged sword." " Her feet go down to death ; her steps take 
hold on Hell. Those who are void of understanding, passing through 
the street near her corner, are enticed by her fair speech, yield to 
the flattering of her lips, go after her straightway as an ox goeth to 
the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks. She has 
cast down many wounded ; yea, many strong men have been slain 
by her. Her house is the way to Hell, going down to the chambers 
of death." I have seen men who had taken her steps, they became 
blighted emasculates, reeking with putrescence, abhorrent, and loath- 
some with stench. And yet some will say ''there is no Hell." 

Orpheus, the Son of Apollo, and the muse Caliope,is reported to 
have repaired to the infernal regions, at the death of his beautiful 
nymph Euridice, who was stung by a venemous serpent. At the 
magic music of his voice and lyre, the wheel of Ixion stopped ; Tan- 
talus forgot his thirst ; and for a time the torments of the damned 
were suspended ; Cerberus the trine-headed watch dog of hell was 
subdued and lay fawning at his feet ; Pluto, the stern king of Hell, 
was moved to pity, and Proserpina, the queen of Hell, was melted 
to tears, yet he failed to rescue his beautiful nymph. Aggrieved by 
his loss, he retired to the woods, established a school of celibates, 
which enraged the gods, and he was torn to pieces. 

Hercules was said to have entered Hell, and to have succeeded in 
liberating the watch dog, but was compelled to return him to his 
post. The hero was accompanied by Hermes and Athena, and he 
sacrificed one of the oxen of Hades, and gave the blood to the 



Lecture on Hell. 19 

Shades to drink. After his return, he was consumed by the poisoned 
tunic and the pyre, and his shade entered the realm of Hades. 

I shall now, at the close of this discussion, introduce to my audi- 
ence, One who entered Hades, and accomplished grand results. 
One who wrested the keys from the grim monsters death and Hades, 
and by his own power rescued man}- of the death and Hell bound 
victims, and has thus given assurance that he will rescue the entire 
Adamic race, vanquish death and Hades and leave their realm un- 
tenanted. 

The descent of the Saviour into Hades is as certain as his crucifix- 
ion. It was the doctrine of the early church, and is found in the 
Apostle's Creed, and is supported by an honest exegesis of many 
texts of Scripture, and agrees with its general tenor and scope. 

David, the shepherd, king, and poet, foreseeing the resurrection 
of Christ, (as his prophetic ken peered down through the vista of 
centuries,) sings, " Thou wilt not leave my soul in Hell, (Sheol,) 
neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. The Apos- 
tle Peter after the resurrection of Christ, declares that " His soul 
was not left in Hell, (Hades) neither his flesh did see corruption." 
The Saviour said, to the penitent thief when on the cross " To day 
thou shalt be with me in Paradise," which the Jews understood to 
be in the underworld, and to be identical with that department in 
Hades, called " Abraham's bosom," and this place is the Elysium 
of the Pagan world. 

Jesus had said to Nicodemus, " No man hath ascended up to 
Heaven, but he that came down from Heaven, even the Son of 
Man." Hence, the spirits of all the Patriarchs were gathered with 
or unto their fathers, and did not go into Heaven at their death. 
And until Christ himself descended into Hades, and rose from the 
dead, and ascended to Heaven, no man nor shade had entered 
Heaven. The Apostle Peter confirms the view of the Saviour's 
descent into Hades, in his epistles, saying : " For Christ also hath 
once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring 
us to God, being put to death m the flesh, but quickened (or alive) 
in or by the Spirit. By which, also, (in spirit,) he went and preached 
unto the spirits in prison," (or in Hades,) preached the gospel (or 
good news) of the resurrection Preached himself, who is "the 
resurrection and the life." " For, for this cause was the gospel 
preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged ac- 
cording to men m the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." 



20 Lecture on Hell. 

Paul also (Eph. iv, 8) declares : " Now that he ascended, what is 
it but that he descended first into the lower parts of the earth ! 
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all 
heavens." 

Jesus had taught this truth, saying, u For as Jonas was three 
days and three nights in the whale's belly, so shall the Son of Man 
be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." This was 
not predicated of his body, which lay in Joseph's rock-tomb, but of 
his spirit, which descended into Hades, or the under world. The 
Saviour, during his ministry, abundantly demonstrated his quicken- 
ing or life-restoring power. He healed the sick by his word, raised 
the dead to life, called Lazarus from his tomb to live and mingle 
again with his friends. 

He laid down his life for ours, to expiate our sins, dismissed his 
spirit when on the cross, that he might enter Hades and the realm 
of the dead, to assert his resurrection power. He arose from the 
dead, and with him many brethren, of whom he was the first born 
from the dead, whose graves were opened at his crucifixion, and 
who came out of their graves after his resurrection, and went into 
the Holy City. " He led captivity captive," or, as the margin reads, 
" He led forth a multitude of captives " — captives of Hades and the 
grave — led them up to heaven. These were the elect ones, whom he 
did predestinate, whom he called, whom he justified, and whom he 
glorified, and who were " conformed to the image of his Son." 
These were seen by St. Paul in heaven, as " the church of the first- 
born," and by the Revelator, as the " hundred and forty and four 
thousand," who sung a new song, which none but they could sing, 
being " redeemed from the earth," " redeemed from among men," 
being the " First Fruits" or sample of the whole harvest of be- 
lievers who shall come forth at the last day into " the resurrection 
of life." It is believed that the Saviour, in his achievement in 
Hades, transferred Paradise, or the department of Hades, in which 
the souls of the just are kept, into heaven ! This is adumbrated 
in the Scriptures. He had prayed, saying, " Father, I will that they 
also whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they 
may behold my glory." 

St. Paul saw m the New Jerusalem, with God and the Mediator, 
and the church of the first-born, the spirits of just men made perfect. 
These are distinguished from the church of the first-born, as they 
have not, like them, received their glorified bodies, but await the 



Lecture on Hell. 21 

resurrection of all the just. Since the ascension of the Saviour, and 
the transfer of Paradise to Heaven, the spirits of all who are just at 
death, go to Heaven, to behold the glory of their king, and they too 
behold their brethren, the church of the first-born ones, in their glori- 
fied humanity, and they are happy in the anticipation, and in the as- 
surance that they, too, will be fully redeemed and glorified, at the glor- 
ious and second Epiphany of their glorious king. 

The stories of Mythology were founded in the traditions of the 
nations, who were once acquainted with the facts of revelation, be- 
ing derived from a common parentage, at the Genesis, and at the 
Flood ; but the facts were more or less obscured by their lapse into 
barbarism. The achievements of Hercules, and Orpheus, pointed 
to the achievement of the Saviour, and though they are but dark 
and imperfect types of the Redeemer, they are unmistakable evi- 
dences of a general belief among men, that there shall arise a De- 
liverer, who, to rescue the race from Death and Hades, must enter 
the realm of the enemy in triumph, and bind the terrible monsters, 
and release their captives. This, the Saviour essayed to do. His 
descent into Hades brought victory to the entire race. His own 
resurrection, and that of the first-fruits, gives assurance that he will 
raise all men, " but every one in their own order," company, or band. 
" They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, (Zoen.) 
And they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation," 
(or judgment) of " shame and everlasting contempt," (cherpah-de- 
raon, Reproach and Abhorrence. 

We have thus briefly and, as we believe, clearly shown that there 
is a Hell, which was not a part of the plan of the original universe, 
but was subsequently prepared for the apostate angels, and that in- 
corrigible wicked men will be consigned to that place. That this is 
located in the lower or central parts of the earth. That such an 
institution is a necessity, for a permanent home for those, who, in 
the exercise of their volition have acquired an affinity for that classi- 
cal institution. 

That in the general adjudication there will be a sorting, and a 
separation of the classes of mankind. And in accordance with jus- 
tice, and the eternal fitness of things, the homes of the two classes 
will be as distinct as their characters, and that this will be contin- 
uous and perpetual. That Hell is a better home for unwashed un- 
regenerate sinners than heaven, and is more congenial to the taste 
of those who love torment, and choose death rather than life. And 



22 ■ Lecture on Hell. 

therefore, Hell is a merciful institution : and infinite goodness and 
wisdom, and justice, and mercy, and love, unite in its establishment 
as an asylum and proper home for the inveterate despisers of all 
that is good. We have shown that redemption doth reach the grave 
and Hades ; that the Saviour entered the dominion of death, en- 
tered the tomb, descended into Hades seized the keys of death and 
Hell, opened the prison, and led forth the captives, spoiled princi- 
palities and powers, and made a show of them openly and ascended 
with his trophies into heaven. After his resurrection he asserted 
his potential prerogative. " All power is given unto me in heaven 
and in earth." And after His ascension, St. John, who was caught 
up into heaven, saw one like the Son of Man, who said unto him 
" Fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was 
dead ; and, behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen : and have the 
keys of Hell and of death. 

But some begruntled and unequipoised minds, the tenants of 
dolico-cephalous pates, may take exceptions to these remarks, and 
pronounce all assumption ; and hence, the existence of Hell is a 
myth, and the idea thereof a fallacy. Yet, at the same time, these 
Savants incline hell- ward, and are graduating themselves in vice and 
wickedness, acquiring at great cost of time and labor, a fitness for 
some such realm. Come with me, my dear friend, and take counsel 
of the masses that surround us. Come, ask the glutton, racked 
with intense pains, as he endures the torture of the gout, if there is 
no retribution ? Ask the drunkard running amuck with demons, 
with boots and hair filled with serpents, as he beats the air wildly, 
with visage aghast with horror, and frightful maniac glare, as he 
groans, and raves, and foams, and champs in pot-house mania, if 
there is no Hell ? Ask the foul and wanton debauchee, whose loath- 
some carcass is fraught with stench and rotteness, writhing in pangs 
and agonies, and all the chancred fires of Hell. Ask all these, and 
hear them utter the response, in doleful cadence, " There is a Hell /" 

If there is no Hell, why this antepast for infracted law ? 

Does God mock the sinner with false-pretense ? And will he dis- 
appoint him in his expectation ? When the wicked have fitted them- 
selves for the society of the vile, and for the atmosphere of the Sty- 
gian gulf, will God force them into Heaven, where they have no adap- 
tation or fitness, to increase their pangs of remorse ? Will he abort 
his unique creature, dowered with the power of selection, and reduce 
him till he become more impotent than the beasts that perish ? Will 



n\ 



Lecture on Hell. 23 

he purify the incorrigible smner in the tires of Hell, and transfer 
him from thence to Heaven, that he may clamor his discord with 
halleluiahs to Hell-fire, in concert with the songs of the redeemed ? 
The voice of Heaven, of earth, of sea, and sky, and Hell, in loudest 
notes respond in one eternal negative. Whatever may be the fitness, 
and the congeniality of Tartarus, for the enjoyment of its denizens, 
and however well adapted may be that thermal clime for the com- 
fort of the felons and perverts, who have expatriated themselves 
from Paradise, for a residence in that demon-home, their condition 
is nevertheless neither an enviable one, or one to be desired. Accli- 
mation will not erase the stains of guilt, nor will remorse forget its 
rapacity. The amusements of Tophet will bring satiety and loath- 
someness, and cannot gratify the aspirations of the human mind. 
When Ps} r che was united to Cupid in nuptial bonds, the fruit of 
their wedlock was named pleasure. When the human soul is united 
to the divine love, the issue is rapture, and unsullied and unending 
bliss. But for the human soul to dwell with hate, to hurdle with 
sin, and death, and Hell, in that dread lake, sniffing its incense. 
'•' To live in cold abstraction, and to rot. 1 ' ! " 'Tis too horrible !" 
To domicile with death, and yet survive, to feed the deathless worm 
in endless cycles, and hear the echoes of the Stygian hills repeat 
your groans of agony, while midnight horror reigns supreme, is 
most horrible. 

We are all probationers, and are forming character for a future 
and eternal abode, in a recovered Paradise, or in the Tartarean gulf. 
" The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the promotion of 
fools !" It is a great honor to have conferred the rare privilege of 
the freedom of the city of London, or of Edinburgh ; but how 
meager this when compared to the franchises of the city of the 
Great King — the New Jerusalem ! — which shall descend from God 
out of heaven, adorned as a bride is adorned for her husband ; and 
which shall become the metropolis of the renewed earth ! In that 
blissful Eden home the inhabitant shall not say, " I am sick !" the 
Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces ! " He will swal 
low up death in victory!" And the righteous "shall inherit the 
land forever!" Then there shall be complete immunity from the 
insulting and assaulting diabolisms that now surround us. Nothing 
that defileth, nor which worketh abomination, shall enter there 
There is a pure river of the water of life, issuing from the throne, 
and the Tree of Life on either side of the river, in perennial leaf 



24 



Lecture on Hell. 



and fruitage ! There shall the redeemed walk , in the light of eter- 
nal day, and bask in the efflux glory and in the actinic rays that 
radiate from the eternal throne, and lave in the waters of the river 
that makes glad the City of God, and feast upon the refection and 
ambrosial nectar of life's ever vernal tree ! 

But " without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and 
murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie." 
May God save us from such a doom ! 




LECTURE 



BY 



JOHN BEOOKS, 



OF CAMERON COUNTY, PA., 



DELIVERED IN THE 



HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 



THURSDAY EVENING MARCH 29, 1879, 



ON THE SUBJECT OF 



HELL. 



HARRISBURG: 

LANE S. HART , PRINTER. 

1882. 




HP 








*lP 



m'j*. 






■ .m* 1 





■t ^H 



